Norms elmore clark



N. E. CLARK.

METAL FABRIC.

APPLICATION FILED APR.26.19I2.

1,309,241. Patented July 8, 1919.

nwmron Nari-1 s Elmer Clark UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

NORRIS ELMORE CLARK, OF PLAINVILLE, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR 1'0 ROBERT S. ALLYN, TRUSTEE.

METAL FABRIC.

1,309,241. 1 Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 8, 1919.

Application filed Aprll 26, 1912. Serial No. 693,329.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, NORRIS ELMORE CLARK, a citizen of the United States and resident of Plainville, in the county of llartford and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Metal Fabrics, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates particularly to what is commonly known as metal lath and concrete reinforcing material.

Metal lath usually consists of expanded metal, perforated metal or woven or welded wire fabric. Sometimes the reticulated portion is furnished in sheets or coils and attached to studding on the job. In other cases the fabric is solid and is provided with reinforcing members which serve as studding or as furring strips. My invention relates to this latter type. The object is to provide a fabric which can be made economically and which will have great holding power so as to provide a maximum strength for a minimum amount of metal.

The invention in its preferred form consists of expanded metal mesh-work together with reinforced beam members formed of strips of metal bent into channel-like form and projecting from the plane of the expanded portion. The beam members may be reinforced in either or both of two ways so as to provide a maximum strength in the beams at the outer edges of the beams which are most remote from the plane of the reticulated section. The reinforcement of these beams may be effected either by providin a supplementary rod inside or outside t e apex of the beam member or by indenting the sides of the beams near their apices so as to stiffen the beams and provide shoulders and recesses into which the cement or concrete can become interlocked with the sides of the beams so as to develop the compressive strength of the cement when in use. A combination of these two methods of reinforcement may be effected by placing a rod inside the beam at its apex and then bending the sides of the beam inward so as to cause it to inclose the rod snugly. The expanded portion of the fabric may be formed by slitting the metal between the beams in staggered arrangement, the lines or slits being arranged diagonally relative to the direction of the beams and diverging from the center of the metal between the apices of the adjacent beams. The slitted portions are then expanded in a suitable manner so that the expanded fabric consists of zig-zag bent strands united at a point midway between the beams and extending diagonally from the center in opposite inclinations.

The preferred form and some modifications are illustrated in the accompanying single sheet of drawings.

Figure 1, is a transverse sectional view of a fabric embodying the improvements of my invention.

Fig. 2, is a view of the under side of the left hand portion of the same on an enlarged scale.

Fig. 3, is a side view of one of the beam members showing perforated sides.

Fig. 4, is a fragmentary transverse sectional view showing the method of connecting the ends of the beams of two sheets by interlocking the beams.

Fig. 5, is a detail transverse sectional view showing the method of connecting the adjacent side edges of two sheets.

Fig. 6, is a perspective view of a modification showing a separately formed beam member secured to an expanded metal fabric.

Fig. 7, is a detail perspective view of a fragment of the beam of my invention having a triangular sectioned rod secured inside the apex of a beam.

Fig. 8, is a cross sectional view of the same.

Fig. 9, is a detail perspective view of a fragment of another form of a beam of another form of my invention in which the beam is reinforced by a stri secured on the outside of the apex of the cam.

Inthe form shown in Figs. 15 inclusive the reference numerals 1, 2 and 3 indicate what I have termed the beam members which provide the necessary rigidity so as to enable the fabric to be self-supporting. Any number of these beam members may be provided in the fabric but preferably the fabric will be provided with at least one beam on each edge. In the form shown the beam 3 is shaped so that it can be snapped over a beam 1 ol' the adjoining sheet as illustrated in Fig. 5. The ends of the beams of longitudinally adjacent sheets may be overlapped as shown in Fig. 4 by spreading apart the sides of the beams at one end oi the fabric. The beams are connected by reticulated Sections for instance. the expanded metal such as the sections 4 and 5.

Each bean'i men'iber is formed of a longitudinal strip of metal folded into a cross section such as shown in Fig. 1. The lower edges of the sides of the beam 6 and 7 are spaced apart so as to leave a channel 8 between them. Just beyond the spaced apart portion the sides are closed in together to form longitudinal lateral channels 9 and 10. Preferably the outer edge is formed so as to have rather abrupt shoulders 11 and 12 to aii'ord a better grip in the cement. This bending in of the sides near the outer edge stittens the metal and the lateral channels 9 and 10 and the shoulders 11 and 12 cause the cement to coiiperate more perfectly with the metal so as to develop the maximum amount of tensile strength of the metal in conjunction with the compressive resistance of the cement.

Additional reinforcement such as the rod 13 in the apex of the beam may be provided if desired. the additional metal of this rod being located at a point removed from the plane of the reticulated sections makes the fabric particularly rigid against bending.

In the form shown in Figs. 1 and 2 the reticulated section is formed by slitting the metal along lines in staggered arrangement and then expanding it so as to form zig-zag strands it and 15 extending upward to the left and to the right respectively as viewed in Fig. 2 from the central connection 16 diagonal relative to the beams. The connection 16 may be bent upward slightly as shown. The openings are preferably small and the strands preferably. arranged edgewise so as to afford a good holding capacity for the cement. The sides of the beams may be provided with openings such as 17 for the cement to pass through into channels between the sides and thus more eiliciently prevent the formation of lines of cleavage.

In the form shown in Fig. 6 the beam 20 has a cross section similar to the beams of Fig. 1 and extends in longitudinal direction while the strands of the expanded fabric 21 extend transversely relative to the beam members. The beam member is provided with lateral flanges 22 and 23 which may be secured to the expanded fabric for instance, by tangs 24: and 25 bent around some ofthe strands of the ex anded portion.

In the form shown in Figs. 7 and 8 the beam member 30 is formed by corrugating or folding the stripof metal along its center. Additional reinforcement consists of a rod 31 having a cross section oi general triangular shape. This rod may be secured in place, for instance by extendin the portion 32 into the rod or by bending over tongues 33 so as to retain the rod securely and prevent it from creeping longitudinally and from falling out. In cutting and bending the tongues 33, openings such as 3 1 are left in the sides below the rod tor the cement to pass through and interconneet the same on the opposite sides.

In the form shown in Fig. 9, the beam member 40 is indented or grooved along the sides of the upper edge so as to provide channels such as 41 and additional reinforcing metal is provided in the form of a strip 42 rolled over the outer edge into the chan nels 41.

By the use oi a fabric having the min forced bean'i members as herein set forth it is possible to obtain a maximum stillness of fabric with a minimum amount of metal since the additional metal or reint'ormnnent formed by indenting the sides is located at some distance from the surface of the reticulated portion of the fabric. In this manner it is possible to do away with some of the rod members which would otherwise be necessary to supply the requisite stiffness. Similarly the requisite stiffness may be provided without using as heavy a gage of metal as would be otherwise necessary. By using the additional metal as shown in Figs. 1, 7 and 9 it is possible for the manufacturer to suppy two grades of fabric made on the same machine, by simply omitting the rods in one case and putting in the additional rods when greater stiffness is desired. By allowing the ends of the rods to extend as shown in Fig. 7 beyond the sheet metal por tion of the beams it is possible to connect up two sheets of the fabric end to end more readily. In the form shown in Fig. 6 the expanded metal portion is very still in one direction and the beams give additional stiffness in the opposite direction.

In my application #296,087, filed May 10, 1919, I am claiming more specifically the forms of construction having the features illustrated in Figs. 6 and 9 herein.

What I claim is 2- 1. An expanded metal fabric comprising beam members bent into channel-like form and an expanded section connecting said beam members and consisting of two sets of zigzag strands arranged edgewise to the plane 0 the fabric and extending diagonally in o posite inclinations relative to the length of the beams and connected midway between the beams by discontinuous connecting portions forming tangs bent from the plane of the fabric.

2. A metallic reinforcing fabric consisting of the combination of a reticulated section having small meshwork and longitudinal beams strengthening and reinforcin the small meshwork, said beams bent into 0 annel-like form with their sides spaced apart at the connection with the reticulated section and bent inward at both sides near their outer edges to form longitudinal lateral channels on the opposite sides of the beams, the outer edges of the beam members extending substantially parallel to the plane of the fabric at the opposite sides so as to provide abrupt longitudinally extending shoulders to interlock with the cement covering the fabric.

3. A metal fabric comprising the combination of a sheet metal portion consisting of a reticulated section having a plurality of rows of relatively small openings and longitudinal, relatively deep, channel-like beam members each closed at one edge, and with inclined sides spaced apart at its base and integral with the reticulated section and projecting from the plane thereof together with an additional separately formed longitudinal reinforcing rod rigidly secured to the beam member at the apex thereof.

4. An expanded reinforcing fabric comprising, expanded meshwork and marginal channel-like beam members, each being closed at one edge and open at the other edge, an additional reinforcing rod secured in the channel of one of said beams adjacent the apex thereof, the other marginal beam member being left open to the apex to receive the marginal beam member of another sheet of such fabric.

5. A building fabric comprising an expanded meshwork section forming a sup port for concrete on the upper side and an anchorage surface for plaster on the under side and relatively narrow and unexpanded channel-like high ribs projecting from the upper side serving to reinforce and support the expanded meshwork section and its load of wet concrete and to support substantial direct loads, said ribs being continuous alon their upper and lower edges and space apart from each other a distance materially greater than the height of the ribs and havmg lateral shoulders near their upper edges serving to anchor the ribs in the hard con crete and to prevent the formation of lines of cleavage in the concrete along the upper edges of the ribs.

6. A building fabric comprising an ex panded meshwork section forming a support for concrete on the upper side and an anchorage surface for plaster on the under side and relatively narrow and unexpanded high ribs projecting from the upper side serving to reinforce and support the expanded meshwork section and its load of wet concrete and to support substantial direct loads, said ribs being continuous along their upper and lower edges and spaced apart from each other a distance materially greater than the height of the ribs and having lateral shoulders near their upper edges serving to anchor the ribs in the hard concrete and to prevent the formation of lines of cleavage in the concrete along the upper edges of the ribs, said riibs having perforations in the sides between their upper and lower edges and below the lateral flanges whereby the concrete from above is allowed to pass through the ribs and anchor with the plaster from below and thereby prevent the spreadin of the sides of the ribs.

An expanded metal fabric comprising beam members bent into channel-like form and an expanded section connecting said beam members and consisting of two sets of zig-zag strands arranged edgewise of the plane of the fabric and extending diagonally in opposite inclination relative to the length of the beam members and connected midway between the beam members by tangs, said strands having between them relatively small meshes and the meshes midway between the beam members being of greater area than the other meshes.

8. A metal reinforcing fabric comprising an expanded metal meshwork section forming a support for concrete on the upper side and an anchorage surface for plaster on the under side and relatively narrow and unexpanded metal ribs projecting from the upper side and serving to reinforce and support the n'ieshwork section and its lead of wet concrete and to support substantial direct loads, said ribs being continuous along their upper and lower edges and spaced apart from each other a distance materially.

greater than the height of the ribs and each having continuous laterally projecting portions along their upper edges with abrupt Sl'lOllldBlS serving to anchor the ribs in the hardened concrete and to prevent formation of lines of cleavage.

9. A reinforcing fabric for concrete work comprising, expanded metal nieshwork and relatively high and narrow unexpanded ribs projecting therefrom and spaced apart at distances greater than the hei ht of the ribs, each rib being continuous al ong its upper and lower edge and having a continuous laterally projecting portion with an abrupt shoulder extending along its upper edge serving to prevent the formation of lines of cleavage in the concrete, and the two walls of each rib being in contact below the shoulder and having perforations between the shoulder and the meshwork.

10. A metal reinforcing fabric comprising an expanded metal meshwork section wet concrete and to support substantial diupper edge and perforations between the rest loads, saiddrilis being continuaus along shoulder and the meshwork. their 11 per an owe]: edges an spaced. apart fl om each other a distance materially NURRIS ELMORE LLARK 5 greater than the height of the ribs and each Witnesses:

havin a, lateral channel and a continuous Mmnrr'r O. RYDER, later-a, 1y extending abrupt shoulder along its MARSHALL P. RYDER.

90y! at this mm may be obtained {or the oents etch, hy addressing the Commissioner 0! ratenta, wllbhltml, 3.0." 

